KINGSTON, N.Y. -- A government watchdog says Common Council members were out of compliance with the state Open Meetings Law when they met behind closed doors to discuss the controversy surrounding Mayor Shayne Gallo's firing of city Parking Enforcement Officer Jeremy Blaber.

Camille Jobin-Davis, assistant director of the state Committee on Open Government, said, "a caucus would involve only members of one political party and, once the door is open to members of another or different political party, then it's no longer a caucus."

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Jobin-Davis pointed to similar situations in which legislative bodies have tried to circumvent the law by claiming that, because the law states "guests" are allowed in caucuses, opposing party members can participate.

"If the gathering ... were attended by council members from two political parties, we do not believe that a Republican legislator could be characterized as a 'guest' or that they can be described as political caucuses exempt from the Open Meetings Law," Jobin-Davis said.

"In a variety of decisions, the courts have determined that provisions authorizing the exclusion of the public from meetings of public bodies should be construed narrowly," she said.

Council Majority Leader Thomas Hoffay said the decision to allow Brown into the meeting was made based on advice of the city's attorney, Corporation Counsel Andrew Zweben. Hoffay, D-Ward 2, acknowledged he has not read advisory opinions or court decisions about properly conducting sessions under the state Open Meetings Law.

"I can only tell you what I read and what I was told ... was a) you could have a caucus and it can be closed and b) you could invite a guest," Hoffay said. "It didn't say of the same party; it just said you could invite a guest. And I also had the opinion of corporation counsel that it was alright. So I was comfortable with it."

Zweben was not immediately available for comment.

Hoffay said if he was provided with "a section of law that says you can invite a guest, but they cannot be a member or official of the body from another party ... I would be impressed with that."

Brown said she demanded to be included in the discussion because it involved city business.

"I was insistent on being there, and they did let me attend," she said. "I figured if it was going to be a council issue, that all (sides) had to be there."

Brown contends that because she was not involved in arranging the private session, she was not responsible for any violations of state Open Meetings Law.

"I was invited, and I expressed my opinion," she said. "That's all I'm really going to say. Other than that, it's going to be taken care of by the council."

Hoffay said it was important to take the discussion of Gallo behind closed doors because it involved disciplinary actions the council could take.

"Under the city charter, the council can investigate any official of city government or any department of city government," he said. "That is a jurisdiction thing of the council. ... We wanted to sit and just say, 'What do you think about this?' ... To do that, it really needed to be a private conversation so people felt comfortable."